Sunday, January 02, 2011

New year, new decade, new thoughts and plans, it seemed a new blog was in order. Please come visit me in my new home, where things are bigger and brighter, still in the works, and with room to grow. I'm loving it there!

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Well, hello there. If you are seeing this, thank you for stopping by after my mysterious disappearance! I meant to post that I would be traveling in December, but the post never got written, and I can count the minutes I've been near a computer in the past month on one hand! But I am back! Back from, to be specific, Morocco and Italy.

Morocco:

Italy:

More on that to come. Much more! But right now It is 1-1-11. New Year's Day. I love me a new year. I like to think of New Year's as the "Emperor of Mondays." Mondays, I know, are not everyone's favorite day of the week, but I love Mondays. For some reason, Mondays have always felt like clean slates to me, like . . . new notebooks. You know? Like a fresh etch-n-sketch screen. The feeling is: begin now.

Whatever it is, BEGIN IT NOW.

On New Year's, that feeling amplifies a millionfold. I am massively excited about 2011, for many reasons. 2010 was oh so good to me, a life-changing year, a holler-with-joy kind of year, a pinch-me-I'm-dreaming year. What will 2011 hold? Many more firsts for Clementine. Talking! Wanting to pick out her own wonderful mismatch outfits. Continuing to become her little-person-self. A new book to write! And one to shepherd to the shelves, a process filled with anxiety and glee. Jim's and my 10th wedding anniversary, this June. Ten years of marriage, the very best of marriages. From art school parking lot to a gondola in Venice, up to Portland, Oregon and creating our little Pie, not to mention our books, and more on the way.

Gratitude. Looking back, looking ahead, I am filled with it. I love New Year's. Clementine is napping now, hopefully getting over jet lag (we were all up in the middle of the night eating pancakes, which -- hey! -- was not so terrible!), and enabling me to crack open my computer for the first time in a month. I haven't gotten to email yet. Oy, how I hate the junk that daily clogs my inbox. Will tackle that next.

I am feeling an urge to totally overhaul this blog and really dig into it this year. It has become a bit ... thin ... of late, and I don't just mean this month. I have ideas of how I'd like it to be, and I think I might begin again, a whole new address, a fresh sidebar and banner, a clean start. Maybe. If Clementine naps a while longer :-)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Hey guys, have you ever seen this painting? It's by Jim, and it is an alternate Lips Touch cover he did during the whole cover conception process. I love it. It is actually hanging in my writing room! It is also now up for auction -- as a 13x20 print on canvas (mounted on stretcher bars; it looks like an original painting on canvas; FYI there *is* no "original" of this because it was finished digitally, so it exists in its purest form in the ether.) -- to benefit Bridget Zinn, our lovely Portland writing friend who has been valiantly battling stage IV colon cancer for nearly two years -- that's nearly two years of constant chemo, and now a new treatment for which she is traveling to Arizona a week of every month. There are a lot of totally awesome items up for auction, including this painting, which includes a signed copy of Lips Touch.

Browse, bid, and help Bridget and Barrett out with their medical costs.

Thank you! And really, this Thanksgiving, give deepest and most heartfelt thanks for your health. Because, boy o boy. Not everyone is so lucky.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

This is not new, and I may be the last person to hear about it, but my mom just emailed me the story which I find verrry interesting. See here:

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . ..

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enjoy life NOW .. it has an expiration date

* * * * * *

I Snope's it and it's true (story here), and it makes me think a couple of things:

1) Classical musical literacy in this country is all but nil (myself included). We don't know great from good when we hear it. Heck, I scarcely know great from bad! This is sad. I wish I'd had an education in classical music. I know it's not too late, of course. It's all priorities. But ... our priorities, our educational system ... so much is lost. As a culture, we put our time into the most mediocre forms of entertainment, things that dull our minds instead of exalting them. Will this be a footnote in some alien textbook on the ruin of human civilization on Earth?

2) I want to be the person who stops and listens, even if I don't recognize it as great. When you think about what kind of person you would like to be ... what do you see? Suppose you were writing the *ideal you* as a character in a novel. In this scenario, my *ideal Laini* would not only stop, but would end up engaging the violinist in conversation and finding out -- what!? gasp!! -- that he was Joshua Bell, who even I have heard of. It would be meaningful. It would be cool. It would be a story I could tell forever, how I was the *only* person who stopped to listen that day Joshua Bell played incognito in the subway station. If I were *ideal Laini* I would have a ton of anecdotes like that, because I would be alert to life, I would be engaged.Wouldn't you like to be that person? How to be that person? Think about it. Think about being *ideal you.*

3. I want to listen to more classical music. I want Clementine to listen to more classical music. Tonight Jim's beginning guitar class had a concert, and she was so engaged. It's awesome. She just drinks up live music. Her face is like light. More. More more more. Lucky to live in a city with music everywhere, free or cheap, and for all ages. Portland, I [heart] you.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Oh such a shameful shocking lapse in blogging. I just can't get my blogging act together. Some things that are going on:

--Clementine under the weather. A little cold plus a little teething = a little misery :-(

-- Starting a new book. Wooo hooooo! So exciting! So scary, inspiring, and wonderful! Have come up with some ideas that totally set my brain on fire. I am currently in love with the opening scene.

-- Laini's Ladies emergency. That is, I find myself with a sudden deadline and new designs to produce in the midst of much else going on.

-- Assorted "much else" in the way of life stuff -- good stuff, but busy-making.

-- Impending copy-edits. Eeek! Will be receiving tomorrow!

-- Revisiting the title of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which just isn't quite right. Wracking my brain for a kick-a** title.

--Preparing to go on a trip! Yay!!!!!! Guys, we're finally going to Morocco!!!!!!! Yippeeeeee! I have been in a daydream-land of kasbahs and camels, zellij tiles and carpet souks, tajines and caftans, mountain, desert, beach, city. Seriously: the Atlantic, the Sahara, the Atlas Mountains, and Marrakesh. Oooooooh, names out of fairy tales. I am SO EXCITED I CAN'T SEE STRAIGHT. I want to see the goats in the argan trees. Date oases on the fringe of the Sahara, with mud-brick castles baking in the winter sun. Leather slippers in every color, all lined up, gorgeous as candies. Mountains of oranges in the Jemaa el-Fna.

How cool of a UNESCO designation is this: "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity". I think that that designation was created specifically for the Jemaa el-Fna, which the heart of Marrakesh, this big madhouse of a square filled with acrobats and henna artists, snake charmers, musicians, street dentists (ouchy!), storytellers, and more more more. And food, of course. Here it is at night:

And here is one of the most famous kasbahs, Ait benhaddou. It may be familiar to you from being in many movies, including Gladiator:

And oh the luxury, the luxury. Part of the awesomeness of traveling in Morocco is that even the hotels are destinations, and I don't mean just the expensive ones. Here are some pictures of the "modest" riad where we will be staying:

(Look at this ceiling!!! And the tilework! Oh my oh my. Camera, I think you are going to get some use :-)

Oh my gosh, I am so in love with this country, and I haven't even been there yet! Can't WAIT to show you my own pictures. It will be a little while yet, but just you wait. Photos will be had. Forced on you. I will sucker you in and make you watch my two-hour trip slideshow of Clementine riding a camel, Clementine wearing a tarbouche cap (fez), Clementine on a magic carpet, etc etc. Tee hee.

In the meantime, some pictures I can show. My writing room is in the new issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors -- the Studio edition. Yay! I haven't seen it yet, but am dying to. But here are some of the pics I sent in. Don't know which they will have used:

On another note, I was following the National Book Awards on Twitter last night. Has it already been a year??? Whoa. Congrats to all the winners!

And lastly, a book recommendation. Best book I've read in a long while: Plain Kate by Erin Bow. Such gorgeous gorgeousness! Erin Bow is an award-winning poet, and it shows in her marvelous prose: so evocative and lovely (without being flowery or "poem-y," never fear). But it's not just the prose. The storytelling, the imagination, and the heart -- and heartbreak are all tippy top. My favorite kind of book. It actually made me well up numerous times, and I am not a teary-eyed reader, usually! I could try to tell you the plot, but I have a deadline to get back to, so best you just read the flap when you go to buy it! :-)

Monday, November 08, 2010

So I'm totally in love with this Dutch artist, Jane something (her last name is not anywhere! I have come across it, but can't find it now. Starts with an 'S'. Schouten? Anyway, find her HERE). Is she even Dutch? I don't know. Maybe she just lives in the Netherlands. You see, I know nothing. But check out this colorful wonderfulness:

Sunday, November 07, 2010

I've been feeling decoratey lately. Dreamy-decoratey. Dreaming of a new house, bigger house, new decorating possibilities. Dream dream dream. I have this little folder on my desktop for inspiration, and this is what's in it. Just ... pretty. A random selection. Most of these come via the fabulous decor8:Such cute craftiness!I love this Anthropologie display, the way they have the random drawers on the bookcase for organization? How cute is that? Love Anthropologie. Love love love.This, apparently, is done by cutting designs out of big floral wallpaper and decoupaging onto a cabinet. Cute!I think that I would love to have a space filled with giant colorful poufs. I think kids would love it too.Click on this one to embiggen. It's so purty.Awesome DIY glass ball chandelier. I have my eye on you.Have a beautiful day!

About Me

I'm a writer & artist. I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband Jim (also an artist) and our small daughter, Clementine Pie. My novels are Dreamdark: Blackbringer, Dreamdark: Silksinger, and Lips Touch, which was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award. My next novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Little, Brown) will be out September 27, 2011. I believe our dreams are REAL THINGS, not wisps and air, and it is our job in this life to make them come true, because no one else will do it for us, and because this is our one and only "wild & precious life"!